The U.S. Supreme Court declined to lift 30-year restrictions on a Republican National Committee (RNC) program that intimidates voters in communities of color. The Supreme Court did not comment on this decision.

The restriction came about after the Democratic National Committee (DNC) sued the RNC for enlisting off-duty sheriffs and police officers to patrol polling places in minority precincts in New Jersey during a 1981 gubernatorial election. The next year, the RNC agreed not to carry out some programs it claimed were designed to combat voter fraud and to have the other reviewed by a federal court.

Tuesday is the last day to vote. Do you know where your polling place is? You have a busy schedule, do you need a reminder on Election Day? Have you made sure that all your friends and family are voting, too? Have you made a plan to vote?

If you make a plan to vote, you’ll actually be more likely to vote. Makes sense, right?

Bowing to a huge public outcry, communications conglomerate Clear Channel has agreed to take down more than 100 billboards in predominately African American and Latino neighborhoods in Ohio and Wisconsin designed, say voting rights and civil rights groups, to intimidate voters and suppress the vote.

Also, the company has agreed to post new messages on billboards in those Cleveland, Columbus and Milwaukee neighborhoods encouraging people to exercise their right to vote.

Voters scored another victory against the growing voter suppression efforts by Republican lawmakers when an Iowa judge ruled that new state election rules imposed without any public hearings could not be implemented. Polk County District Court Judge Mary Pat Gunderson said the new rules:

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit this afternoon blocked Texas’ new voter ID law, ruling that it discriminated against minority voters. Yesterday in Florida, a federal judge struck down what he called "harsh and impractical" restrictions on voter registration imposed by a voter suppression law signed by Gov. Rick Scott (R) in 2011.

A sobering analysis at freepress.net dissects the four-pronged effort by the Ohio Republican Party to steal the 2012 presidential election.Authors Bob Fitrakis and Bob Wasserman conclude that because Ohio is a pivotal state in deciding the winner,

if they get away with it, the Ohio GOP could make it virtually impossible for Barack Obama to carry Ohio this November.

Imagine if you were a child and living in constant fear of losing your parents.

For many children of aspiring citizens, potential loss of one or both parents is a day-to-day reality. Deportations can force children into foster care when their parents are shipped out of the country and leave single mothers struggling to make ends meet.

A new Center for American Progress report highlights how deportations break up families and negatively affect the entire community.

One Ohio election official said he frankly doesn’t care if the state’s attempt to curtail weekend early voting hours suppresses voting by minority and low-income voters. Meanwhile, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted suspended and will try to fire two county election officials who had the audacity to oppose his voter suppression tactics.

Ohio AFL-CIO is protesting outside Husted's office today. They will march from Husted's office to the Franklin County Board of Elections for its meeting at 3 p.m. For more photos of the protest and updates, visit Ohio AFL-CIO's Facebook page here.